A former London Tube worker who was jailed for terror offences is back on the streets of London after serving just 11 months of a 31-month sentence, it has been revealed.

Commonwealth Games 2014: Running in London parks takes banker to Glasgow

Family affair: Nick Torry joined the Serpentine club as much for the social side as the running — he met wife Laura, left, there — but then his “competitive instinct” kicked in and he will run for England in Sunday’s marathon

A banker who runs marathons as a “hobby” says his family and friends at a London running club helped get him up to pace for the Commonwealth Games.

Nick Torry, 37, an accountant at German City firm Commerzbank, is a member of the Serpentine running club — where he also met his wife Laura — and will run for England in Sunday’s race.

He paid credit to his brother Hugh and fellow runners Jonathan Poole and Richard Phillips for setting a demanding pace on training runs round Richmond Park.

He has been a member of the Serpentine since 2007 and runs around Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park in its Wednesday sessions.

“It’s been nicknamed a dating club,” he said. “I met my wife through it. It was a summer party when we got together and the rest is history. We have been to countless Serpentine weddings.”

Mr Torry, who was born in Croydon and lives in Crystal Palace, does much of his training by running to work in the City, or around Battersea park after work. He ran his first marathon in 2001 in 2hrs 58min. His personal best now is 2:15.

He said: “It’s a very inclusive club with a large membership. I was starting to enjoy it as much for the social side then my competitive instinct kicked in. I thought: ‘I know I can go quicker.’ Every time I break a record it’s also a club record.”

He added: “I’ve only had an England vest once before, at a half-marathon in Denmark. I will take whatever memorabilia I can.

“It’s incredible when you are in international areas and you feel part of that, coming from a background where you work all the time and it’s just a hobby. It’s strange mixing in the areas where there are full-time athletes.”

As a child, he was inspired by middle distance runners Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram, recording TV coverage of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics as it was screened after his bed time. “I would be up first thing in the morning and watching the recordings from the night before,” he said. His Commonwealth ambition is to record a personal best. “I want to come away thinking I have done myself proud,” he said.

Olympic cycling champion Laura Trott was today competing against her 2012 team-mates Dani King and Jo Rowsell in the 3,000m individual pursuit. Trott’s boyfriend and fellow Olympic champion Jason Kenny was going for gold in the men’s sprint. The medal races take place from 5pm in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.